FoX Linux was a single-CD desktop-oriented Linux distribution based on Fedora Core, with KDE as its preferred desktop, main components recompiled for the i686 architecture and out-of-the-box support for popular multimedia formats.

Red Flag has announced the availability of the first release candidate for Red Flag Linux 7.0, a Chinese desktop distribution and live DVD based on Fedora 10. According to the announcement, this version delivers the most complete desktop Linux distribution in terms of localisation into simplified Chinese. It also contains several new features and up-to-date packages, including Linux kernel 2.6.27.7, glibc 2.9, GCC 4.3.2, X.Org Server 1.5.3, KDE 4.1.3 desktop environment built on Qt 4.4.3, a new and elegant desktop theme, new configuration and recovery tools, and the latest Mozilla Firefox browser, version 3.0.5. The distribution supports English and simplified Chinese only. See the release announcement and download page (both links in Chinese) for further information and screenshots. Get the installable live DVD image from here: Olympic-7.0-rc1.iso (1,118MB, MD5).

Red Flag Software Co., Ltd. (Red Flag Software) was founded by Software Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and NewMargin Venture Capital. The company is focused on the development and marketing of Linux-based operating systems and application software on multiple platforms for the constantly growing base of Chinese technology users.

Red Flag Software, a Beijing-based software company specialising in the development of open-source software products for the local market, has announced the release of Red Flag Linux 8.0. This is the company's first major release in over four years. Some of the new features include: Linux kernel 3.6.11 with additional hardware drivers and enhanced wireless network cards support; incorporation of Fedora's systemd service manager; a customised KDE 4.10 desktop; new theme for the GRUB splash screen and the KDE desktop; a brand-new and simplified system installer; new Red Flag Software Centre with better software installation interface; new "Firstconfig" feature which includes an option to choose the preferred language; Google Chromium as the new default web browser.... Read the press release and visit the download page (both links in Chinese) for more information and technical details. Get the live DVD image from here (the distribution supports English as well as Simplified Chinese): RedFlagin_WiseV8.0.iso (1,806MB, MD5).

With the 2008 Olympic Games now in full swing in Beijing, China's most prominent Linux vendor, Red Flag, has announced the availability of a special "Olympic" edition of Red Flag Linux. This is a preview of the upcoming stable release 7.0. The product is an installable live CD that boots into a customised KDE 4.1 desktop featuring an Olympic theme. It includes a (beta) migration wizard allowing import of passwords, settings and data from a Windows partition. Among the main components, this release comes with Linux kernel 2.6.25, glibc 2.8, GCC 4.3.1, xorg-server 1.4.99, Qt 4.4.0, Firefox 3.0 and Wine 1.0. The announcement also mentions a few known issues regarding certain audio drivers and Intel graphics cards; these should be corrected in the next release. More details and download links are available in the release announcement (in Chinese). Interested testers can get the live CD image from here: olympic7.iso (665MB, MD5). The system supports both the simplified and the traditional variants of Chinese, as well as English.

Red Flag Linux 6.0 "Desktop", a Chinese distribution based on the recently announced Asianux 3.0, has been released. As with any past releases, Red Flag Linux 6.0 continues to focus on providing an easy-to-use desktop that resembles the Windows user interface as much as possible and includes a number of Windows-like utilities. New in this release is the inclusion of 3D desktop features with Beryl, updated package management infrastructure with APT for RPM, automatic dual-boot setup, and multi-language support. The distribution uses the latest 2.6.22 kernel with modules for a large number of modern hardware devices and wireless network cards, as well as read/write support to NTFS file systems. On the desktop, the system is built around X.Org 7.2 and KDE 3.5.7, now with automatic mounting of storage devices, and OpenOffice.org 2.2. For more details please see the product features page (in Chinese). Red Flag Linux 6.0 is available as a 2-CD image set - an installation CD and an optional "Tools" CD with extra software; both can be downloaded from here: RedFlag-dt6-sys.iso (680MB, MD5), RedFlag-dt6-Tool.iso (587MB, MD5).

Red Flag Linux 5.0 "Workstation" for i386 and x86_64 processors has been released. The new version, boasting improved reliability, usability, security and hardware compatibility, is built on top of Linux kernel 2.6.9 and supports Chinese (GB18030 and Big5 encodings), Japanese, Korean and English languages. The familiar Windows-like desktop and control panel from Red Flag 4.1 continues to be the main desktop feature, but the addition of development software means that the product can also be turned into a powerful workstation or development platform. See the distribution's product page (in Chinese) for more detailed description. Red Flag Linux 5.0 comes on four CDs - the first two contain the basic system, the third one includes administration utilities, language modules and documentation, and the fourth CD contains development software. The ISO images are available for free download from several (very slow) mirrors listed here.

Red Flag Linux 5.0 is the first product to be based on Asianux 2.0, launched earlier this week in Beijing. This is a desktop product and the snapshot, made available for free download this week, is a testing release. Red Flag Linux 5.0 intends to be a comprehensive desktop operating system with major improvements in the area of installation, hardware support, and desktop configuration. The system uses kernel 2.6.9, X.Org 6.8.2 and KDE 3.2.1, with many enhancements, solid multimedia and instant messaging support, USB device hotplugging, and other conveniences. Like the previous Red Flag Linux releases, the desktop is designed to resemble Windows XP. Please refer to the product information page (in Chinese) for further details. Download: RedFlag-5-disc1-snapshot.iso (651MB, MD5) and RedFlag-5-disc2-snapshot.iso (616MB, MD5).

After a lengthy beta testing period, the final release of Red Flag Linux 4.1 Desktop Edition is out and available for free download. This is the first Red Flag release based on the recently formed Asianux, a common development platform maintained by China's Red Flag Linux, Japan's Miracle Linux and South Korea's Hansoft. Red Flag Linux 4.1 brings many improvements over its earlier release, including easier installation, better hardware support, improved kernel performance, and more intuitive desktop configuration options. It is designed for use in government offices, schools and on home computers. Here is the full announcement (in simplified Chinese), inclusive of download links. Get the ISO image from here: RedFlag-4-disc1-200410111500.iso (695MB). An optional second ISO image with development software is also available: RedFlag-4-devel-200410121158.iso (361MB).

Red Flag Linux has released the first release candidate of the upcoming Red Flag Linux 4.1. This version is based on Asianux 1.0 with the addition of many desktop-oriented packages. The focus of the release was to increase system responsiveness and to offer better hardware support, while the KDE desktop environment was tweaked to conform to usability studies. The product comes with excellent support for multimedia, including CD burning, DVDs, VCDs and streaming audio. Newly included is Wine for cross-platform compatibility. Support for Chinese input has also been improved with the help of Red Flag's XFT-fontconfig typeface management technology. The release announcements contains a lot more detail (in simplified Chinese). Download: RedFlag-4-disc1.iso (695MB), RedFlag-4-tools.iso (614MB) and RedFlag-4-devel.iso (360MB).

Red Flag Linux has announced a release of Red Flag Linux 4.1 Desktop, Early Access edition. This is, effectively, a beta version of the upcoming Red Flag Linux 4.1, code name "Muliphein"; it is primarily designed for Chinese users not yet familiar with Linux, with ease of use as its main feature. The complete release notes and known issues are listed on this page (in simplified Chinese). Download from here: desktop41.iso (680MB). Those who decide to participate in testing should report bugs on Red Flag's user forums.